PDA

View Full Version : [Systemless] Caravanserai!



Kiero
2010-06-29, 05:39 AM
In the real world, the caravanserai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravanserai) were a series of roadside inns/waystations covering Asia, North Africa and south-eastern Europe. I've also seen it used in fantasy to refer to the people engaged in the transport of goods, or more particularly those protecting it.

Caravan guard is a time-honoured RPG device, as a way to make the adventure come to the PCs, or a starting point. It's a way to get the characters together, or otherwise hook them into something. Things can come to them, or they can reach the adventures in passing through. Or they could be carrying the very thing that makes it all go off.

There's an extreme example of it in the Malazan Book of the Fallen; the Trygalle Trade Guild specialise in getting cargoes to otherwise unreachable or overly distant places. Because they travel via the Warrens (magical realms where distances are different to the "real" world), which are extremely hazardous, but a lot faster than traditional means. Each guard is a "shareholder" who gets a cut of the profits for the risks they take in coming along. Half don't survive their first outing, but those who make it to the end of their careers often retire extremely wealthy. They have to keep the wizard who makes the gates alive, because without them everyone is stranded.

What have people done with the caravan guard setup? Has it fallen out of favour? What interesting twists have people done with it?

Tell me of your caravan guarding adventures.